NEW powers have been drawn up to cut down on litter caused by late night leafleting on Oxford streets.

Street cleaners are spending so much time peeling discarded flyers off the pavement that it has forced the Oxford City Council to take action.

Special consent will now be required to hand out flyers at three “hotspots” under the regulations and those caught promoting without permission will face fines of up to £2,500.

But the rules will not apply to political, charitable or religious groups as the council believes that could contravene the Human Rights Act.

Cleaning city streets costs the council about £1m every year.

The regulations are part of the council’s Cleaner, Greener campaign, launched in November 2009, which is supported by the Oxford Mail.

John Tanner, the councillor heading the campaign, said: “Some commercial outlets are putting out leaflets, often late at night, to encourage people to go clubbing or drinking.

“Too many end up on the street to be picked up by council staff. It’s not a good use of time or money.”

In August, the council adopted powers to allow it to fine children as young as 10 for dropping litter.

Under the latest regulations, pampleteers authorised to hand out material will have to agree to ensure the area stays litter free.

Flyers promoting irresponsible drinking will be banned and any alcohol promotion must carry the ‘Drink Aware’ message.

Council officers said the problem is often connected to bars, nightclubs and university campuses and the litter is cleared up by street cleaners before daybreak so the extent is not always noticed by residents.

But they said it is a significant drain on resources. The flyers are cleared by a machine in dry conditions but when it is wet they have to be picked up by hand.

Areas covered by the new rules are Park End Street and the city centre, Cowley Road and surrounding streets and Headington Hill and surrounding streets.

A leafleting bylaw introduced in 2004 failed to curb the problem, prompting the new powers – available to councils under the Environmental Protection Act – to be introduced.

Similar powers have been used by councils in Leeds, Leicester and Manchester.

City centre Pubwatch chairman Jaqueline Paphitis, who is licensee at The White Horse in Broad Street, welcomed the regulations.

She said: “There is a problem with litter and if you do go down that route you end up with everyone giving out leaflets.”

But she said pubwatch members had raised the idea of having a specific advertising stand in the city centre where pubs and clubs could leave leaflets.

She added: “Pubwatch members might pay for that.

“Tourist information isn’t open 24 hours a day and we get people coming in to our bar asking where is good for a late night out.”

Flyposting on Cowley Road, litter in East Oxford, Blackbird Leys, the city centre and the ring road have all been targeted as part of the Cleaner, Greener campaign.